As automobiles age and are exposed to sunlight, chemicals, pollution, soil, pollen, dust and other contaminants, the lenses of the headlights commonly take on a yellowish translucent or opaque appearance. This yellowish discoloration can be a surface film, an actual discoloration of the plastic commonly used to make such lenses or a combination of both. This discoloration is not only unsightly and detracting from an automobile's value, but also reduces the effective brightness and focus of the headlamps.
One solution to this problem is replacement of the lens assembly. Unfortunately, replacement lens assemblies are costly. The labor involved to replace such lens assemblies can further escalate the price of replacement to surprisingly high levels. Whether one wishes to sell a vehicle with discolored headlights or retain it, it is obviously desirable to keep the cost of restoration of discolored lenses to a minimum.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,831,041 describes a cleaning pad specifically made to clean headlight lenses. Various commercial products are also available on the market which are designed to restore headlight lenses. However, each has been found to have undesirable characteristics. For example, some products provide no protection against further damage and discoloration by the factors listed above, and others have in fact been used with unsatisfactory results by the current inventor. Other products contain harsh solvents and other chemicals which may either be dangerous to use or can potentially damage an automobile's paint. Still others are complicated multiple part systems.